Can Clemson Do It Again in 2020
Clemson Football: Why the Tigers Volition or Won't Make the College Football game Playoff in 2020
In a world of uncertainty, there are few things we know for certain. Ane of those is that the Clemson Tigers have a good football program. A really, really good football game program.
When the adjacent season begins, the Tigers volition be considered one of the front-runners for the national championship. But the 2020 version is not without weaknesses. Here are three reasons Clemson will undoubtedly make the College Football Playoff and three reasons that may give you pause.
3 Reasons Why Clemson Will Make the College Football Playoff in 2020
1. The offensive backfield
In Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne, Clemson may accept the best quarterback and running back in the nation. The 2 All-Americans not merely give the Tigers quick-strike power, they also allow for a balance that no other team possesses. Both players will also be very motivated to enhance their NFL stock, but this is Clemson under Dabo Swinney, meaning individual honors come equally a result of the team's success.
On top of those two Heisman candidates, Clemson has depth. Lyn-J Dixon ran for 635 yards final season and would be a 1,000-yard rusher if he were the starter. Despite saying adept-bye to Chase Brice, who transferred to Duke, Clemson will have Taisun Phommachanh and prized 2020 signee D.J. Uiagalelei backside Lawrence. So the closet, for at present and in the future, is stocked pretty full.
2. Brent Venables knows how to build a defense force
He's done information technology before and he'll do it once again. After replacing the entire defensive line last twelvemonth, all iv starters are back up front end. Tyler Davis will look to build off an exceptional freshman year and Xavier Thomas has the potential to exist a starting time-round draft option. Plus, Bryan Breese and Myles Tater are two freshmen that could see early action. Linebacker James Skalski and corner Derion Kendrick will take on leadership roles on the back end.
Simply this side of the ball is really nigh Venables. Later the 2014 flavour, the Clemson defence lost several stars including Vic Beasley Jr., Grady Jarrett, and Stephone Anthony. And in 2015, the Tigers were 10th in full defense force. Following the championship run in 2018, when the entire defence line departed for the NFL, Clemson was 3rd in scoring defense and 6th in scoring defense in 2019. To look annihilation less than authorization out of a Venables unit is simply foolish.
3. The schedule
Unless someone like Florida State or Louisville really jumps up in the Atlantic, in that location is no i on the Tigers' ACC schedule that volition present a challenge. There is the possibility that North Carolina develops into a strength in the Coastal, making the ACC Championship Game a contest. But in reality, that side of the league is still a jumbled mess, and there'south no guarantee any team will pace up this year.
That means that the just real threat to a Clemson return to the playoff is the game at Notre Matriarch. The Irish gaelic should be a very good squad once once more, but they yet haven't beaten a high-end program in a large spot during the Brian Kelly era. Plus, Clemson e'er plays its best football late in the season when the games really matter.
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Three Reasons Why Clemson Won't Make the College Football game Playoff in 2020
ane. Inexperience at receiver
Amari Rodgers has played a lot of football, but beyond him there is little veteran presence out wide, a situation complicated by the absence of Justyn Ross, who underwent surgery to correct a spinal issue and is out for the season. Joseph Ngata and Frank Ladson Jr. have a world of talent, only they haven't really produced much yet. They will all exist helped past the return of tight end Braden Galloway from suspension. Lawrence needs all of these young players to emerge if the passing game is to continue to roll along.
Where matters could go even trickier is if more injuries pop up. Ross' injury already moved everyone else on the depth chart up a notch. Receivers like Brannon Spector and Cornell Powell may be serviceable options, but Swinney does not want to have to rely on them too much.
2. Inexperience on the dorsum seven of the defence
Yes, Venables is a master of the rebuild, but in that location are some questions in this area. Skalski and Kendrick are the only starters returning, and Kendrick is still adequately new to the corner position. And though Clemson has recruited incredibly well in contempo years, projected starters like Lannden Zanders, Nolan Turner, and Baylon Spector were not recruits that were coveted by many other major powers.
The heavily recruited players on the dorsum of the Clemson defense are very young. Andrew Booth Jr. is a sophomore cornerback that played in simply 4 games concluding year. Sheridan Jones played some only still is green. Fred Davis Two and Trenton Simpson are 2 true freshmen who could help out at corner and linebacker respectively. Information technology will exist interesting to run into if experience or talent wins out when Venables puts together his two-deep.
3. Boot game
Specifically, placekicking. Punter Will Spiers has been inconsistent during his time at Clemson, merely he was much improved as a junior. Very few of his punts were returnable, and his 40.half-dozen net yards per punt ranked in the superlative 25 in FBS. If he maintains that level, Clemson will be fine.
But B.T. Potter was shaky at times equally the squad'due south field goal kicker. He has a big leg and was 1 of the best in that nation at booting kickoffs out of the end zone. But Potter was only 13-of-21 on field goals and missed 4 kicks inside of xl yards. Interestingly, he made all three of his attempts outside of l yards, meaning he was 10 of 18 on anything 49 yards and closer. Potter's inaccuracy didn't cost Clemson last yr, but that possibility exists in 2020.
Concluding Verdict
Considering that the Tigers have made the College Football game Playoff each of the past five seasons and the ACC looks no closer to developing a second contender, it seems articulate that Clemson will exist among the final four. Bold there aren't whatever more major injuries at receiver, Lawrence will make the passing game deadly. The offensive line has to be pieced together with only 1 starter returning, merely the new starters take gotten plenty of reps over the years.
The youth at linebacker and in the secondary will be mitigated by a ferocious defensive front. If Thomas can finally unleash his sky-high potential, Clemson could again have the best defensive line in America. Plus, while the new defensive starters will exist learning on the fly, Kendrick and particularly Skalski will exist there to put people in the right places.
Over the by few years, usually in tardily September or early on October, Clemson is challenged by a heavy underdog. Concluding year information technology was Due north Carolina, and Syracuse was the troublemaker in the two previous seasons. Just Clemson e'er survives and reaches the College Football Playoff. And the Tigers will again this year.
— Written past Jon Kinne, who has been office of the Athlon Contributor Network for three years, covering the ACC and Notre Dame. Follow him on Twitter @JonRKinne.
Source: https://athlonsports.com/college-football/clemson-football-why-tigers-will-wont-make-college-football-playoff-2020
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